Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu, representing Nasarawa West, has accused the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, of lacking the principal symptom of a staunch politician.
The Senate Committee Chairman on Public Accounts said he could not be on the same political platform as Malam El-Rufai.
Recalled that El-Rufai abandoned the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) he helped form, for the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in March 2025, citing a growing misalignment between his values and the current direction of the APC as the primary reason for his decision.
Wadada, on the other hand, a former stalwart of the APC, won his senate seat on the SDP platform.
Speaking at the weekend in his country home, Keffi, Nasarawa State, Wadada said he was leaving the SDP for El-Rufai.
“Even though Malam El-Rufai is my elder brother, I don’t think I can stay with him in the SDP because he is not a principled politician,” he stated.
He chided the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for placing personal ambition over collective interest, stressing that El-Rufai abandoned the APC for the SDP, not for any other reason than his inability to secure a ministerial position.
“What changed in President Tinubu between the time El-Rufai supported him and now that he has defected to the SDP?” he queried.
He advised El-Rufai to draw inspiration from Senator Abdullahi Adamu, whom he described as a consistent and principled politician.
Wadada recalled how Senator Adamu, before the 2023 APC primaries, supported Senator Ahmad Lawan as the party’s presidential candidate.
He said that despite Lawan’s loss to Bola Tinubu, Adamu remained loyal to the APC and stood by his decision without defecting—an action Wadada hailed as a mark of integrity.
On the national stage, Senator Wadada acknowledged the economic challenges of removing the fuel subsidy. He, however, said governments at all levels are improving citizens’ welfare.
He commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for effectively utilising the subsidy savings for the development of Nasarawa State.
